Improvement in steam protection for safes, vaults



tnitmlf States JOHN ROBERTSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 101,044, dated March 22, 1870.

l IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM PROTECTION FOR SABES, VAULTS, &c.

The' Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part et' the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN A. ROBERTSON of Boston, Suffolk county, Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Steam Protection for Safes, Vaults, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in t-he art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part ot this speciiication.

This invention relates to the employment ot' steam as a means of protectionfor safes, bank-vaults, c., and for giving alarm when they are attacked by burglars; and

It consists in covering the safe, vaults, and the' like, with coils of pipe or jackets of any kind, to he kept full of steam by connection in any ysuitable way with steam-boilers, at all times when burglars might work upon them, and so arranged that access cannot lbe g' had to the safe or vault at any part without cutting away the'steam-pipe or through the jacket, and allowing the steam vto escape, which will prevent further f operation by filling the room with an atmosphere of steam in which it would be impossible to work.

It is also designed to provide alarm apparatus in connection with the steam-pipe, -in any way, to be caused to act when the steam pressure falls in the pipes, as it would it' they were cut or it' the engineer fails to keep up a supply, or pointers maybe arranged in illuminated dials to be set up where they can be seen vfrom the street, so as to indicate whether the steam is properly kept up by their position relatively to the'dial, or the arrangement may be such as' to cause the light to be extinguished by the subsidence `of tliesteam.

I propose to arrange the said coils of pipe or jackets so as not to interfere with the opening and closing ofthe doors of the safes for legitimate operations during business hours, when the steam would be shut otl, and to make the arrangement such that when the steam is on, if the doors be opened, valves atthe joints of the 11inges,'by which the door is connected to the other part, will be moved so'. as to open escape-pipes and ,allow jets to be discharged against the person opening it,

These pipes may be built into the walls of the safe. or'around the same, and in the latter case any coating or covering of nonheat-conducting substance may be used to prevent giving otf of too much heat in the warm weather. llscape-i-)ipesA and safety-valves are to be used to maintain the steam at the required'prcssure vwithout danger.

The apparatus' may be made available for heat-ing purposes in cold weather.

Figure l represents an elevation, with a part broken away, of a safe, provided with a steam jacket according to one arrangement which I propose, and

Figure 2 represents a horizontal section of the same.

A is the safe, and B the jacketsurrounding the same,

which, in this instance, is represented as made of sheet metal and in one continuous shell, extending around the safe with an opening for the door, but which may be made in any preferred way and of any suitable material for instance, a jacket of tubes, joined together in sections, or otherwise, similar to the manner of construct-ing steam-generators of tubes, may be built around the safe or vault, or it may be a jacket of hollow jlatcast-metal sections, suit-ably joined. C is the steam-supply pipe. D, a pipe leading from the jacket to any suitable alarm apparatus, which will sound a whistle, move a pointer, or extinguish a light on the falling of the steam, and it may have a safety-valve attached. E is an escape-pipe for the water of condensation. All these maybe arranged in any approved way.

F is the door, which I also propose to make. hollow, or provide with jackets of any sort for containing the steam, so that access to the interior ot the safe through the shell cannot be had in any part without causing the escape ofthe steam.

The best means of admitting the steam to the hollow spaces in the door, or to thejackets thereon, will be through the hinges, the pint-les and ears of which may be made hollow and provided with ports arranged to admit the steam when the doors are closed, and the said ports may be so 4arranged that in case the doors may be forced open or opened by picking the locks, they will, as soon as the door is swung open a short distance, allow the steam to `escape against the burglars and into the room, so as to' prevent further operation by the said burglars.

c isa port leading from the jacket through thel ear 'b into the long port tl of the hollow pintle e, and f is a port leading from the pintle to the port gin the wing of the hinge, and leading into the space h. These passages admit the steam to the door while shut; 'i admits steam when open, and 7s, coming into connection withthe long port d as soon as the doo'r is opened, allows the steam to escape into the room. The said ports, or other steam connections of the jacket with the door, may' be arranged in any approved way.

I propose, in case it is found necessary to protect the contents ot the safes from the eIects of the heat of the steam, to arrange ventilating-ducts or spaces vbetween the jackets and the shells ot' the safes or vaults for the circulation of air, and these ducts may be connected with heating apparatus so. that the heat taken up by the air may be'utilized. in cold weather for heating purposes; or I may place between the steam-jackets any arrangement of non-heat-conducting material. l

As at present used,'the safes and vaults are much exposed to the had effects of damp air in warm weather,

and to the dampess generated by frost in cold weather, when placed in cellars or basements, or other like places whereit is most desirable to place them, on account of the greater economy of such space, which is less valuable for other purposes.

These objections will be wholly avoided by my improved means of protection, as the beat of t-he steam will keep them dry. The same plan is also aprotection against lire, as the steam maintains the safes at a lower temperature than they would have when huildings are burning around them, as is now well known'.

' Having thus described my invention,

I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters opened or partially opened, sulrstantially as specified.

JOHN A. ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. Menen; ALEX. F. Bosmans.

for allowing the escape of' the same when the door is 

